oz968

Great pics

Yogii

Jay,

Are you planning to go to Monterey? Treffen in Oregon?

-Yogii

Jay Wellwood

Pleasure trip starting in Portland and ending in San Francisco in October.

Tom Pultz

Ah, from one literal $#!+-hole to another. But what you want to see is in between, so it should be fun.

dbonds

Busy catching up on some 968 related items over the weekend:

• Spent some time troubleshooting engine cooling problems - have seen the car "running hot" several times over the last couple of months, but not specific pattern. Have previously bleed system a couple of times - fluid is less than a year old (when my radiator was replaced due to clogging/splitting). Suspected fans may be acting up as I did note fans were NOT running one time awhile back after shutting car off when arriving home (motor definitely hot) - of course it worked fine next time I drove it. After reading up on lots of potential intermittent fan root causes, I cleaned off all grounding points I could get to as well as the resistor connectors (on firewall under hood next to battery). We'll see if that helps.
  • Question on this topic - I've noticed that with "key on engine off" with a cold engine, my cooling fan runs on HIGH, which I didn't recall it doing. Finally realized that it's tied to the AC button (ie, compressor) being on --- even if AC fan speed setting is OFF, cooling fan runs on high. If I press the button to turn OFF AC, the fan stops entirely. Again, this with the car NOT running, ignition ON, AC fan speed set to OFF, but AC compressor button ON. Can someone confirm this is normal behavior?
  • Likely unrelated, but while messing with the fan relay, I brushed my hand against another relay nearby in location G7 labeled 944.615.116.00, which is identified as the "window winder" relay...and it was HOT. This was just after car was started. I used an IR temp gun later on it, and it registered ~160F - which seems really excessive. Windows operate normally, and it doesn't sound like any of them are "stuck" at the switch or anything. Any idea what could be going on here? I've ordered a replacement relay just to swap it out and see if the problem persists.
• Had noticed ALL my dashboard gauges dropping to nothing a few times over past week, with exception of speedometer showing about 10mph when going 30-40. Turn signal light on dash still worked, and other dash indicator lights worked, but all gauges acted as if car was OFF. In addition, AC compressor would NOT run when in this state (fans moving air in cabin and responsive to fan switch speed setting, just not cooling). I believe an airbag error was also generated each time this happened - had to clear those with my durametric.
  • Hoping removing cleaning all grounds I could find that I thought could be related to dash operation (2x in back of engine bay on sides, 2x under dash above clutch pedal) might help. Worked fine with a short restart and 5 minute idle but hadn't been able to drive it yet to fully test.
• Did my yearly oil change. Went with Swepco 306 20w-50 with a Mann filter (purchased thru Paragon Products) this time. Hopefully without starting a massive oil debate, anyone have any feedback on Swepco engine oil for the 968? I've heard of their transmission fluid being recommended, but not specifically the engine oil. My car seems to run better (better pressure at idle) in hot temps with 20w-50 and there aren't a lot of brands in that formula made for our 30 year old motors (zinc content, etc), so looking for one I can keep using. Mann filter ok? I had one Hengst left on the shelf, but went ahead and used the Mann this time around. Back to Hengst next time, I suppose.
  • I had my last oil change done while other significant service (oil pan gasket, some aftermarket oil pressure/temp gauge sensors replaced/relocated, etc) was being done last year, and had to go purchase an oil filter wrench to get the filter off as it was torqued down fairly significantly. Hand tightened its replacement, no leaks yet.
• Noticed I still have some type of small power steering leak - fluid was on bottom of power steering pump and I've found drops on my garage floor, but I'm still somewhat baffled by the fact this leak has been going on for quite a while (drops on floor, etc) yet my PS fluid reservoir doesn't seem to drop in level at all. Suspect it may be one of the hoses, but after the fight with the oil filter I didn't have the time/energy to chase it down this weekend.

Just random musings after a weekend of off-on 968 maintenance - any feedback on any of the above, particularly my questions, would be greatly appreciated!

Tom Pultz

This is normal fan operation with the AC button. The cooling fan speed is not regulated by the interior fan switch position, only by the thermal switch in the radiator, the AC button position, and the ignition key position, ON or OFF. The fans will not run at high speed until the ignition is switched ON, but they can run at any time on low speed with the ignition OFF. If you haven't seen the discussion on the solid-state fan and DME relays, check out the products from Focus 9 Technology.

dbonds

Thanks for the quick confirmation, Tom! I actually already have both the solid state relays from Focus 9 - the fan relay (with diagnostics) and the DME relay. I think in the past (when it wasn't so hot) I normally left the AC button OFF when car was off, but more recently (with the near 95-100F temps we've had) I just left it on and when I started trying to troubleshoot the car running hot, that fan operation with the compressor on seemed odd to me. Good to know this is normal, so I can cross that concern off my list!

oz968

I have the same PS leak that I cannot identify but am sure it PS fluid on my garage floor.
It drives me mad that every time I put it up on the hoist I fumble around for 20 minutes with out identifying the source.
LMK if you find it willya.
Peter

LM964

For the CS/S (no AC option) my fan is high speed with engine idling when hot or needed. With engine then switched off fan drops to low speed. With keys then removed from ign fan is switched off. Kind of makes sense to me - can't have the (small capacity) battery draining unnecessarily I guess.

dbonds

Here's what my leak looks like - fluid shows on lowest part of PS pump. I cleaned it up last weekend, will try and get it back up in the air this weekend to see if it's easier to ID source when it's only accumulated a weeks' worth of filth. :-)

Zirconocene

@dbonds : I use Castrol 03112 GTX High Mileage 20W-50 for my 944 and 928. The Zn content seems to be "right" for these motors and this oil is readily available.

Cheers

Yogii

Almost all the oils that I can find are 10-30, Even 10-40 is rare. 0-20 is common?

-Yogii
AKA 968 Novice

Retro

Be wary of those. I've had two F9 solid-state DMEs. The first one was non-functional and the second has issues with my car. I reverted to an old-school mechanical DME. I have a '92, which may be partially culpable.

LM964

As always choice of oil (type, grade etc) is a mix of multiple things - engine age/mileage, regional seasonal temps (hot vs cold), and of course personal preferences (that includes how often the car is driven). Certainly something of good or high quality. My 968S is running with Millers CFS 10W-60 and my 964 with Millers CFS 10W-50 NT+. Both cars are not my daily hacks. Both are garaged and only out during the winter when dry when I need make sure the engines run at least once every other week. However, in the spring/summer/fall they both get used hard with plenty of sprint driving the twisties. That's when I know I can count on Millers!

Always good to ask around and seek advice from the oil techies themselves - I spoke to both Millers and those that endurance race 944's/968's. Didn't expect to be recommended a 60 high temp viscosity, but my 968 oil press is great when fully warmed up now. Again, ask around as my preferences won't be the same as others - horses for courses..

dbonds

That (oil pressure when hot) is what drove me to consistently use 20w-50. My oil change last year was done by a mechanic who was doing other work at the time (oil pan gasket replacement, as an example). He replaced it with 5w-40 and I was seeing oil pressure drop to ~18psi at hot idle, which seemed pretty low to me. Replaced with 20w-50 and haven't seen below 25psi at idle since. I'm in Texas with average summer temps in mid-90s fahrenheit and on the seldom days in winter when it's actually "cold", I just drive it very gently until it's warmed up.